It's commonly believed that Phemba are used to promote fertility in women. Depending on the figure, it's been suggested that Phemba could've depicted the mother of the chief, the principal wife of the chief, or in the case of a figure with a supine child, a wife of the chief whose child had died, and functioned as royal images or memorials. Phemba could also represent ancestral statues representing the founding mother of the Yombe tribe.It's also possible that Phemba are related to a women's fertility cult founded by a famous midwife what was concerned with fertility and the treatment of infertility. In special cases, communities honored women by commissioning stone icons depicting a mother and child to be placed on their tombs. This was also considered dangerous, as it represented an insertion of the source of life - the mother – into the world of the dead. Old french collection